Falana salutes ‘outstanding jurist’ Akanbi at 80

Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday described former chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other miscellaneous offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Muhammed Mustapha Akanbi, as a man of outstanding integrity and a jurist of extra-ordinary courage.

The commendation was contained in a tribute he presented to Justice Akanbi on his 80th birthday in Lagos.

Falana said while some retired judges set up consultancy firms which “serve as agents for corrupt judges”, the jurist is involved in the management of the Akanbi Foundation at Ilorin, Kwara State, where seminars and public lectures are held, from time to time, on the state of the nation.

The human rights activist said the fight against corruption could have been won if members of the legal profession had collaborated with Justice Akanbi .

Falana recalled how Justice Akanbi turned down the offer of a second term from President Olusegun Obasanjo “when he saw the apparent lack of political will to fight corruption by the government.

Though he worked closely with Nuhu Ribadu, the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to tame the monster of corruption, Falana said Justice Akanbi called it quits when he was frustrated while “Mr Nuhu Ribadu whose appointment was renewed for another term was ultimately disgraced,demoted and dismissed from the police”.

According to him, most of the high profile cases initated by patriotic Nigerians were either compromised and struck out for want of diligent prosecution or subjected to unending adjournments because the anti-graft agencies were hijacked by corrupt characters under the late President maru Yar’Adua’s administration.

Falana described the Ibori saga as a serious indictment on the Judiciary, which could have been avoided if the fight against corruption had been taken seriously.

The senior advocate praised the ‘gallant’ efforts of Justice Akanbi to combat the menace of corruption as the pioneer chairman of ICPC but which he regretted was frustrated by powerful corrupt elements in the society.

He recalled that the ICPC under Justice Akanbi filed charges against ministers, senators, permanent secretaries, senior advocates and other powerful people but that their prosecution was messed up by the courts aided by senior lawyers.

“For the two years of the existence of the ICPC, all the cases filed in several courts in the country against corrupt public officers were stayed to await the judgment of the Supreme Court in Attorney-General of Ondo State v Attorney-General of the Federation (2002) 27 WRN 1 wherein the plaintiff sought unsuccessfully to invalidate the ICPC Act.

“The requests made to the CJN to appoint independent counsel toinvestigate 25 governors accused of corruption in line with Section 52 of the ICPC Act were not granted”.